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BSc (Hons) Operating Department Practice course preparation

To help you feel prepared for your BSc (Hons) Operating Department Practice studies, we’ve gathered together a range of course related activities including suggested reading, useful websites and some great things to do right now. Read on to find out more.

Your course start dates

The start date for the BSc (Hons) Operating Department Practice degree programme will be Monday 11 September. 

This is for students studying at both the Ormskirk campus and at St James’, Manchester.

Full details about your induction week timetable will be published on these web pages over the coming months and you’ll be advised by email when this information is available to view.

Information about term dates can be found on our website here. 

Please note that your programme is classed as having a non-standard start date. On the information for term dates, you should look under the heading for Faculty of Health, Social Care and Medicine followed by Allied Health Professions. Your programme term dates can be found under BSc (Hons) Operating Department Practice – Year 1 (Sep-23 cohort)

View your Term Dates

Important: Occupational Health

If you haven’t already been seen by the Occupational Health team at the pre-course event in July, you’ll be allocated an Occupational Health (OH) appointment at the clinic being held at our Ormskirk campus between 18 and 22 September.

It’s a condition of entry to the programme that you’re cleared and immunised by OH. Failure to meet this requirement could result in your place on the programme being jeopardised. If you’re not fully cleared by OH, you won’t be able to access your maintenance loan via Student Finance England as you cannot fully enrol.

To ensure this process runs as smoothly as possible, we ask that you provide details of your immunisation record to the OH Team when you complete the questionnaire.

Please let us know if you’re unable to attend your allocated slot, preferably giving at least 24 hours notice.  If you’re unable to give 24 hours notice or have an issue on the day of your appointment, please email [email protected] or call the team on 01695 650946. The OH and School team will try to provide a subsequent appointment, but it’s likely that this would be at the OH department based in Wigan and it’s your responsibility to ensure that you attend.

Please note that most of our placement settings will require you to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as a condition of placement. If you’re not vaccinated or are part way through vaccination, please let us know as soon as possible. This should be included on your immunisation record which will be enough to confirm your clearance.

We routinely collect data on short notice cancellations and non-attendance, if this happens more than once, the University will charge you the full cost of the appointment.
[email protected]
01695 650946

Suggested reading

You’ll be given information about which textbooks to read and be introduced to the University Library, as well as the many ebooks we have for you to access, when you begin your studies. So, the list below is not a list of all the books you need to buy before you start your studies. What we do recommend is that you buy one of the Anatomy and Physiology books. Then, you can take a look at the others at a library to check which ones you like before making a purchase.

  • ROTHROCK, J. MCEWEN, D. Eds 201. Alexander’s Care of the Patient in Surgeryed. Elsevier Missouri.
  • AL-SHAIKH, B. & STACEY, B., 2013. Essentials of Anaesthetic Equipment. 5th ed. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.
  • GRACE, P. & BORLEY, N., 20. Surgery at a Glance. th ed. Oxford: Blackwell.
  • GWINNUTT, M. GWINNUT, C, 2017. Lecture Notes on Clinical Anaesthesia. 5th ed. London: Blackwell Publishing.
  • HUGHES, S & MARDELL, A., 2009. Oxford Handbook of Perioperative Practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • PHILLIPS, N., 2017. Berry & Kohn’s Operating Room Technique. 13th ed. USA: Elsevier Health Sciences.
  • SMITH, B., RAWLING, P., WICKER, P. & JONES, C., 2007. Core Topics In Operating Department Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • WAUGH A., GRANT, A., 2018. Ross and Wilson. Anatomy and Physiology in Health and Illness. 13th ed. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.
  • WICKER, P., 2015. Perioperative Practice at a Glance. Chichester: Wiley Blackwell.
  • WICKER, P. & O’NEIL, J., 2010. Caring for the Perioperative Patient. 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
  • WILLIAMS, T. & SMITH, B., 2008. Operating Department Practice A-Z. 2nd ed. London: Greenwich Medical.
  • WOODHEAD, K. & FUDGE, L., 2012. Manual of Perioperative Care: An Essential Guide. Chichester: Wiley.

Useful websites

Things to do over summer

Edge Hill University trains high quality Operating Department Practitioners. And on successful completion of the programme, you’ll be able to register and be ‘fit for purpose’ in terms of HCPC compliance. The BSc Pre-Registration Operating Department Practitioner programme is an approved Health and Care Professions Council education programme. So, on successful completion, you’ll meet the professional standards required to be an ODP. The degree award will enable you to apply to the HCPC and join a national register of ODPs.

Take a look at the regulatory body’s website; Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) www.hcpc-uk.org. This website will give you detailed information about the professional codes and standards that you, as an ODP, must adhere to.

The professional body for ODPs is the College of Operating Department Practitioners (CODP). Take a look at the CODP website for information on curriculum guidance together with examples of some of the broader aims of the wider work of the college itself. As a student Operating Department Practitioner you’ll be eligible to apply for student membership of the College www.codp.org.uk.

You may also find it useful to become familiar with the anatomy of the heart and lungs, and the musculoskeletal system as a minimum starting point.

Please spend some time before the course starts making yourself comfortable with basic numeracy. You should be able to add, subtract, multiply and divide without the use of a calculator. You should also have a basic working knowledge of fractions, and decimals. BBC bitesize, or Corbettmaths are both useful resources for this, and can both easily be found on you tube.